Description:

The Southern Africa hotspot covers a sparsely populated area, but one that is full of diverse languages. This area includes dry savannas, mountains, the Namib Desert, and the Kalahari Desert. Languages and knowledge systems in the area are endangered because of the dramatic changes in the way of life of groups throughout the area in the last 50 years.

One group whose way of life has changed dramatically in the last 50 years is the !Kung of Namibia and Botswana, who have switched from a hunter-gatherer lifestyle to farming and herding cattle. With this change, !Kung speakers have lost traditional knowledge about hunting and gathering permanently, as there is no !Kung writing system. The exclamation point in !Kung represents a click – in fact, a particular kind of click. Many languages in Africa, as well as a few in other parts of the world, clicks as part of their consonant system. !Kung has four different click sounds.

Language revitalization efforts include:

Some features of languages include:

Voice quality contrasts in vowels (breathy and creaky voice)

Clicks

Grammatical tone

Trivia:

In ||Gana (800 speakers, Botswana; the two lines are a click), plants and animals are split into three categories: edible 'eat-things' (kx'ooxo), harmful 'bite-things' (paaxo), and 'useless things' (goõwahaxo).

Media:

courtesy of Ironbound films, Hanna Köper, speaker of N|u

Shikati Kamanakao, Lydia Ramahobo, Mr Meti, Mr. Mocks Kututo and Mr. Otukile Supang, members of the Kamanakao Association, a group working to promote Wayeyi culture and language. From http://kamanakao.tripod.com/